StarCraft 2 Controversy - NaNiwa's GSL Code S seed revoked by GOMTV

[Tiny]

Not sure who has been following the GSL Blizzard Cup so far, but controversy broke out yesterday all over the intertubes after GOMTV revoked NaNiwa's Code S seed for the January GSL, which means he can only play his way back into Code S next season.

In his stead, the GSL invited IdrA and Sen to try out for Code S instead.

What did NaNiwa do to deserve this type of punishment? The GSL has a strange tournament format where you can actually be forced to play a game even if you have no change of advancing or increasing the amount of money you can win.

After both NaNiwa(Protoss) and Nestea(Zerg) lost in their individual groups with 0-3 losses, they were paired up to play each other in a bracket where it doesn't really matter whether you play or not. There will be no advancement for the winner.

As the game started, NaNiwa simply selected all his probes and attack-moved to Nestea's base. When they arrived there were obviously more drones than probes and the drones won the battle. NaNiwa effectively suicided his game.

GOMTV subsequently invoked one of their rules:
-Warning or disqualification - 경기중에 과격한 행동으로 상대 게이머나 관중들에게 위협을 가할 때 - During a match, a player shall not offend the opponent or audience with abusive behaviours"

It's very debatable whether NaNiwa's actions could be construed as "offensive" or "abusive" towards either his opponent or the audience, but apparently, the Koreans find it 'dishonorable' to abandon a 1v1 match like that. Also, GOMTV have people who pay to watch the stream and a game between NaNiwa and Nestea could mean a lot of money for GOMTV in terms of people paying to watch the stream. A game between two big progamers like these two attracts a lot of attention.

The SC2 community is quite split about this. The one group feels that NaNiwa did not behave like a progamer, using arguments like "a football team would still continue to play the last 5 minutes of the game, even if they are 50-10 down". The other group feel that while NaNiwa didn't honour his match, the punishment handed out to him was overly harsh. "After all, it's not his fault that the GSL has a stupid tournament format where you are forced to play a game that doesn't mean anything to either player".

There are all sorts of arguments in between these, but the biggest schools of thought fall into those two groups.

The forums over at teamliquid.net have been going nuts for the past 18 hours or so, with players ranting, raving and commenting like crazy over the incident.

In the meantime though, GOMTV have released an announcement about the NaNiwa incident and their decision:
GOMTV Announcement

Also, NaNiwa has been interviewed about the situation and he made clear his feelings:
NaNiwa interview

So after all this internets drama ... I would like to hear from you guys!

Did NaNiwa deserve his punishment? Or is GOMTV being overly sensitive toward the whole "offensive" play thing?

 

[frank007]

That is stupid. Why play when there is nothing to win. Not even rank. NaNiwa was not feeling well after the lose and that caused him to do that.

 

[Tiny]

I must be honest, I'm kinda torn about the whole situation... hence the poll!

If I were in NaNiwa's shoes, I might do something similar, or at least 4gate or something... but on the other hand, if you are truly passionate about eSports, you could have seen the time as a training session with one of the best Zerg players in the world?

 

[Zomosa]

I know it is hard but you are going to have to try and see it from a Korean perspective. Remember they live, breath and talk Starcraft. They have dedicated television channels just for Starcraft, I would have been disappointed if I paid to watch a match where someone just threw in the towel.

Did he deserve the punishment? In my opinion, no.

 

[Avatar]

I voted no, as taking away his Code S spot for unspecified unsportsmanlike behavior is way too harsh, IMO. It's understandable that they'd want to punish him somehow, but this is too much, especially since the rule he was punished under is poorly defined, and the useless waste of time match should be mitigating circumstances. It's all a bit stupid, really.

 

[Avatar]

I must be honest, I'm kinda torn about the whole situation... hence the poll!

If I were in NaNiwa's shoes, I might do something similar, or at least 4gate or something... but on the other hand, if you are truly passionate about eSports, you could have seen the time as a training session with one of the best Zerg players in the world?

Remember that Naniwa and Nestea don't particularly like each other.. They have a massive rivalry going on, and playing a no-stakes match will give away a potential strategy. You might see this as a training session with a brilliant zerg player, he probably saw it as giving his rival free practice against him, which I'd be inclined to agree with.

 

[Tiny]

Remember that Naniwa and Nestea don't particularly like each other.. They have a massive rivalry going on, and playing a no-stakes match will give away a potential strategy. You might see this as a training session with a brilliant zerg player, he probably saw it as giving his rival free practice against him, which I'd be inclined to agree with.

Interesting thought, if you put it that way, I tend to agree with you. But you still sound undecided whether he deserved the punishment or not?

 

[Avatar]

Interesting thought, if you put it that way, I tend to agree with you. But you still sound undecided whether he deserved the punishment or not?

I'm sort of in the middle of the field with this, really. I truly believe he deserved to be punished; he's a pro-gamer, and with that comes some responsibility of acting with some level of professionalism and sportsmanlike behavior, which IMO he didn't.

However, the punishment that was dished out was entirely out of proportion, while Naniwa's specific infringements are poorly defined, both in the accusations and the rules. Strictly speaking, with the rules defined the way they are, any player could be punished similarly for chatting in-game, as some consider that to be unsportsmanlike.

What I think, above all, is that more clarity is needed in both the rules and the punishment for breaking certain rules. A more detailed code of conduct should be drawn up as well, so that these surprises are less likely to jump up again.

 

[jGLZA]

The judgement was correct, he broke the rule by being disrespectful and offensive I guess.
However I would also say that the punishment was very harsh.

But I guess examples need to be made, so fair play to GOMTV.

 

[francs]

What's not clear is if he got paid for the game?
It's like professional sports. If your sponsor pays you to play the game, give him his money's worth.

 

[Tiny]

What's not clear is if he got paid for the game?
It's like professional sports. If your sponsor pays you to play the game, give him his money's worth.

He definitely did not get money from the tournament, however, I have no clue whether he got anything from his sponsors or the team he was playing for.